GMATGuruNY wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:BUt as for your second point - is it ALWAYS true in GMAT ?
I think in some cases depending on the meaning and context of the sentence 'which' can modify a slightly far away noun when the entity immediately precedes 'which' in turn modifies/refers to the that noun.
For example this OG qs: Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber her letters to anyone else.

Thoughts ?

Moreover, in the sentence (re the landlocked Caspian) preposition phrase 'on Earth' clearly modifies "the largest lake".
Don't you think that as "the largest lake on Earth" is a BIG noun phrase so 'which' will accordingly have the liberty to jump over the preceding preposition phrase 'on Earth' (the modifier) to modify the HEAD of this noun phrase - "the largest lake" ?

Looking forward to your views!

On the GMAT:
COMMA + which + SINGULAR verb must refer to the nearest preceding SINGULAR noun.
COMMA + which + PLURAL verb must refer to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun.
To my knowledge, no OA has not abided by these rules.

Emily Dickinson's LETTERS to Susan Huntington Dickinson, which WERE written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber her letters to anyone else.
Here, which were written (COMMA + which + PLURAL verb) correctly refers to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun (letters).